


a lesson in speaking up

by Star_less



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Desperation, Embarrassment, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Long Shot, My First Work in This Fandom, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, OP rejects the canon and substitutes her own, Omorashi, One Shot, Post canon, Slice of Life, We Die Like Men, Wetting, piss baby zuko, zuko has to piss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25656268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_less/pseuds/Star_less
Summary: Prince, heir to the throne, soon to be Fire Lord--whatever you want to call him--Zuko, adjusting to the life of the Gaang, finds himself in an uncomfortable situation. If only he could find the words to get himself out of it, hm?They were nearing the waterfall; Zuko didn’t need his eyes open to know that. Thenoiseand thepulsingand the-ugh-fuck-!-- were enough.“There it is! Oh, it’s beautiful!” Katara rose up on her knees in excitement, voice soft and excited. “Zuko, look, the—”“The waterfall, I know!” Zuko squeaked, stress splintering his voice. He was sure Katara was right and it did indeed look very pretty but all he could hear was the rush of water against rock against water again and to say it was torture would have been an understatement.
Relationships: The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 51





	a lesson in speaking up

**Author's Note:**

> this was written (sort of) for a friend. I mean they didn't ask. You know that scene in Spongebob Squarepants, where Squidward gets fed a krabby patty and secretly likes it but hides it from Spongebob and then Spongebob finds out and is like 'you like krabby patties!'. It's like that except I'm spongebob and the big vault of krabby patties is... well.  
> So I mean if they see this surprise!!!! this is so gross I'm gonna die!!!!!! 
> 
> this has piss in it. that's it. if that doesn't interest you just hit your backspace and find something else. :)  
> also fair warning but I haven't actually finished ATLA yet I've only just gotten into S3 so I'm not actually aware of how it ends and the ins and outs of it all so I mean???? sorry????? zuko pissbaby tho!!!!!!!!!!!  
> ...also yeah uhhh I know toph is meant to be w/ them at this point but I started writing this when I was like mid-S1 and by the time she appeared it was too late to re-write and add her in so OTL

Rolling over, Zuko squinted at the early morning sunlight and slowly began to wake up. He shifted, all bleary and confused at the heaviness in his legs. That was new. It was what had woken him up, in fact, the ache in his legs.  
He had only recently begun travelling with the team and it was taking him a little time to get used to their way of life; like, for instance, their lack of sleeping quarters. They plopped down for the night wherever they could. If they were lucky they’d stumble across an outpost, but most of the time it was a case of finding somewhere dry and safe and huddling close to Appa - certainly a far cry from the dry, secure Fire Nation ships he shared with his Uncle.  
He shifted again, sitting up, grimacing at the sunlight that made his eyes ache; it really was early. Then the heaviness in his legs was obvious; duh, he had to use Appa’s tail as a blanket last night.  
He wriggled; the bison didn’t move.  
He struggled, he muttered; the bison didn’t move.  
Huffing, he gave the bison’s tail a soft thwampf. “...Hey, it’s morning.” 

Appa grunted, moving his tail at last, and Zuko squirmed free. The others were still asleep; Sokka, drooling, laid across the bison’s back, Aang, in just his pants, sprawled across Sokka, and Katara curled up against Appa’s side.  
Zuko looked anxiously toward his friends. He would really rather they didn’t wake up.  
It was early, for one, and— and— well, it wasn’t only the ache in his legs that urged him from slumber, it was the ache in his middle.  
He had to pee; but now, out here in the forest clearing they had found, there was nowhere to go but the trees. The men of the group seemed not to care about such a thing; Aang was still childlike enough to find it funny like it was just something Zuko should’ve been used to already, but he wasn’t. Not as a Prince, and certainly not as a Prince who had been living a comfortable lifestyle onboard a ship with a working bathroom. He didn’t mind, but it was something he was uncomfortable to bring up in front of them, never mind give in and do. Then there was Katara; the girl of the group, she mercifully shared his discomfort at the idea. She had a habit of disappearing off late at night when it was quiet - and so, as not to come across her, Zuko had taken the opposite; the early morning call.  
Which was right now.  
Getting to his feet, the firebender stretched with a grimace. He hadn’t held it for that long, perhaps late last night, but there was a warm ball of pressure in his middle all the same. It moved with him when he stretched and, shivering, he patted his middle before heading in the direction of the closest thatch of trees. Although, he always had to stay alert. 

(Stretching widely, Aang sat up and scratched his ear. “Good morning!”  
His voice was a little grumbled. Appa was the only one to grunt back; Aang hopped down and gave the bison a long look. “What’s the matter? You’re grumpy.” 

“Stoppiiiittt, go back to sleep....” Sokka whined, rolling over and covering his ears.

“It’s Appa,” Aang shrugged. “He’s grumpy.”

“So am I. Shhhh...”

“Oh, stop it, Sokka!” Katara mumbled, blinking.

“Great. Now we’re all awake. Can I at least get some breakfast?” Sokka rubbed his grumbling stomach. It wasn’t his fault Katara had woken up in the first place, it was Aang’s!

“Where’s Zuko?” asked Aang, looking around in interest. Sokka shrugged, rubbing his eyes, and ducking into the nearby forest; the twelve-year-old soon followed. “Wait for me,” he whined, “I gotta pee too.”)

Zuko froze. He could hear the kid. He could hear the kid, and he was only just getting himself pulled out of his robes, and the kid was getting closer and damn it, was that Sokka, too? Groaning to himself, Zuko tucked back in and hurried out. He would just have to wait.  
~

“...so, what’s wrong with Appa, exactly?” Katara asked. They had found breakfast, and with a little water and squished up dragon fruit, a sort-of-juice, too. 

“I dunno,” Aang pressed his face close to the bison’s; closing his eyes when he was greeted with a huff of air. “He’s all… whiny.”

“Is he sick?”

Aang shrugged. He didn’t think so. 

“He didn’t want to listen to me earlier,” Zuko mumbled. Not that he thought much of it. The others were all hesitant around him anyway, it was no surprise if Appa was too. He sipped hesitantly from his canteen and tried not to wince, his middle all fluttery and probably too full for him to be drinking anything… but if he didn’t, he was sure the others would suspect something. 

The others shrugged at one another. “Well, he’s your magical flying bison,” Sokka murmured, looking at Aang, “…what did the rest of your people do to take care of them?” 

Aang thought. “They used to have mud baths, I guess? And then a normal bath. T’get rid of the bugs.”

“Well, let’s go and find a mud bath.” Katara smiled.  
~

Hauling himself up onto Appa’s back, Zuko grimaced and straightened out his tense legs, biting back a nervous smile at Katara who sat nearby. They hadn’t headed into the air, maybe there was still a handful of time? He hesitated, biting his lip, words forming and melting again. _‘wait, don’t go yet, I have to piss!’_ he imagined himself saying; his face flushed red. Although he had been welcomed into the group, he wasn’t sure if they liked him enough to stop if he asked; they were still unsure of his intentions. 

“Airsick?” Katara landed a hand on his back, beaming despite the grimace on Zuko’s face. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine and we’ll try to take it slow.”

Zuko laughed nervously. It kinda sounded like a machine gun firing; he blushed again, hands in his lap, and stretched. “Fine,” he said weakly.  
They were going in the direction of the Earth Kingdom. There was a mud bath there, and a spa right at the tippy-top, Aang said. Now that the Hundred Year War was over, peace cloaked the kingdom once more. Technically Zuko was the Fire Lord now, and he should have been doing… Fire Lord-y sorts of things, so this was his last adventure. And he was spending it near bursting and wondering if there was a bathroom nearby. Great.

Zuko wasn’t sure how long they were in the air for. He guessed perhaps thirty minutes.  
But it was a slow thirty minutes. In the sky, it was colder and it wasn’t as though anything was interesting enough to look at, just endless puffball clouds, and _oh_ , he needed some sort of distraction. The nagging in his midsection was now a sort of pulsing instead, an itch he couldn’t stop scratching. He had curled in on himself—make himself as small as possible, no one would know, no one was going to find out!—but it wasn’t helping, not any more. Wincing, he stretched out his legs.  
But oh- oh, it made it worse. How?!  
He breathed out shakily, shuffling side to side as slowly and as inconspicuously as he could, left-right-in-out, left-right-in- 

“Ow! Dude!”  
Sokka. He whipped around, angrily rubbing the sore spot on his back. “What’s the deal? That hurt!”

“I- I didn’t—” Zuko started. That was the end of that. He sighed and tugged his legs in. “…Sorry.”  
Hugging his knees tightly, the prince went back to rocking back and forth. Maybe it wouldn’t be too much longer. It wasn’t going to be too much longer, he was going to be fine, he wouldn’t ever disgrace himself in front of—  
“Ow!” Something hit him. Something hit him, in the back of the head. He jerked forward in surprise, one hand coming to rub the egg that was forming. The other clutched between his legs, desperate and tight, trying to stop himself from springing a leak despite the (shamefully big) burst of warmth that came free.  
“…What the hell was that for?!” Zuko snarled. Hyperaware of the warm streak in his lap and flushing a fuming red he pounced at Sokka, growling. How dare he.

“Try me,” Sokka smirked.

“You two!” Katara got in the way of Sokka before he could reach a flailing arm at the firebender, shaking her head. “You’re behaving like _children_!”

“He kicked me!”

“We’re on _the same side_!” Then, in a softer voice, Sokka’s direction: “…you leave Zuko alone.”

Zuko was silent, shuffling and pressing his weight down against Appa’s saddle. Katara’s gaze went toward him, Sokka’s too, but he looked away. What was he supposed to say, exactly? _Sorry, Sokka, but I’m going to explode if I sit still_? “I- I didn’t mean to.” he huffed softly.  
~

Appa was lowing. A low grumbled sort of bellow. 

“What’s the matter, buddy?” Aang chirped, oblivious to anyone else’s plight over his beloved bison’s. He flopped forward, meeting the bison’s big brown eyes. Appa growled slowly and gave a warning sort of snuffle to the boy.

And then, as though someone had snapped their fingers, lightning cracked in front of them. The biggest, most cartoonish yellow fork Aang had ever seen. The sky fell into darkness, the thunder rolled in, and the swollen grey clouds poured. Appa moaned, swerving high and swooping low to avoid the lashes.  
It was kinda like being on a rollercoaster. Aang giggled softly, squeezing Appa’s reigns as they swooped through the wet clouds. He might have whooped a few times, but the thunder drowned it out. 

“I think it’s too dangerous to keep Appa in flight!” Katara shouted, tapping Aang on the shoulder. She hated to disrupt his fun, but…

Aang nodded. “…okay, so, we’re on foot until the storm passes!” he called. 

Zuko winced. Great.  
~

Hugging himself, Zuko ducked and shivered. It was raining pretty heavily now; big, thick droplets that rolled down from the towering trees above them and went splattering down his back. His feet sunk with soft sucking squishes into the earth and he was wet and cold all over… except for his middle. His middle was warm and sometimes pulsing, and he could feel all of it, the juice and last night’s tea and the bathroom breaks he had ignored out of sheer embarrassment tight in his bladder. The spitty, cold rain dripped down his front, squeezing his abdomen. Every time he strode forth there was a sharp ripple, the kind that tore his breath away—or, worse, pushed the juice and the tea closer and closer. Then, trembling between holding and losing he was forced to shift his legs a little tighter lest he did the unimaginable and actually pissed his pants.  
“…C- Can’t we find shelter?” Zuko asked hesitantly, looking at the others as he came to a stop, fists clammy and clenching at his robes. Shelter was his chance. He had missed his chance earlier but now, right now, Zuko did not care if he had to piss in front of everybody, because he was going to _burst_ , damn it. He swallowed a lump that was suddenly in his throat when the rest of the group looked toward him. “The—the storm doesn’t, uh, look like it’s going to let up yet,” he muttered, lamely. His bladder gave a nagging push but, stomping childishly, he had to ignore it.  
~

“You’re soaked through, all of you!”

 _No shit,_ thought Zuko, _it’s not like we’ve been walking through a storm, or anything._  
How the Avatar and his gang managed to find so many friendly citizens remained a mystery to the firebender. Not even during his time as a Ba-Sing-Se refugee did he meet anyone as friendly. When he had suggested shelter he was thinking of a tree he could hose down; certainly not the mortification of requesting permission from some overzealous grandmother they’d known for all of five minutes… and yet here they were. He tugged his fists forward, shifted his weight side to side trying not to look at the (slightly ajar) door leading off from the kitchen. The woman was brewing tea; it tinkled noisily into each cup, loud enough to send a twist of discomfort down his spine.  
Swallowing, he glanced at the woman and shifted again, on the balls of his feet this time. Well, she was nice enough to let them in, maybe—maybe she would let him use the bathroom?; although that thought died as quick as it came. What was he _thinking_? He was a _Prince_ —hell, he was the _Fire Lord_!—how shameful would that be?!

“Here. Boba. Sorry, lavender’s all I had.” The woman thrust a mug of lavender coloured liquid under Zuko’s nose; he inhaled sharply, shutting his mouth and jamming his legs together at just the sight of it. “Oh, no… no thank you,” he pleaded— _please, no more!_ —but was handed the cup anyway. He nursed it but did not drink, bobbing his knees every now and then. 

“Thanks!” Aang answered for him, thirstily slurping his drink. “We’re going to the spring, for my bison.” 

Katara eyed Zuko as she sipped her tea, wringing the wetness from her hair with one hand. He looked as though he was trying to fold himself in at all angles, like an origami doll. She caught his gaze, frowned, you okay? but all he did was straighten up, cough, rub his midsection. He did not drink his tea... nor did he answer. 

“…the spring is beautiful now it has been restored to what it once was. Oh, and those mud baths!” The woman smiled. “But really, the waterfall’s the best part. It looks like liquid crystal.”

“Oh, we gotta go and see it!” Katara nodded excitedly, gaze pointed and fixed on Zuko. “Doesn’t that sound like fun? Zuko?”

Zuko took a deep breath. The bubble of water rose and fell inside him, dragging a whimper out from between his gritted teeth. “U- um..” he hesitated. No. No, it sounded like hell. The worst thing he would ever have the misfortune of seeing in his entire life. “…yeah. Amazing.” He rasped.  
~

On Appa’s back again Zuko whimpered, legs spread, clammy fingers clutching the bison’s fur. It somehow felt worse than before, like every little movement, swerve, and glide Appa made drilled into his bladder. And though he jiggled his legs and tensed muscles he didn’t even know he had so hard pearls of sweat broke out on his forehead - he couldn’t stop shameful spurts from leaking out; tiny dots-and-dashes of warmth in his lap. No, he breathed to himself, no, and it was then he registered the rushing water they were nearing and the ‘no’s turned into little ‘mmm’s and ‘nnn’s.

“Are you alright?” Aang, politely enough. Zuko opened his squeezed-shut eyes but said nothing, lips quivering, legs quivering – everything quivering. Humiliation flowered all over his body in big, blushing patches.

“Ignore him,” said Sokka, shrugging and throwing his boomerang in the air. Frankly, Zuko had been moody and weird all day, and Sokka had been manipulated by him too much to trust him. “…are we almost there?”

They were nearing the waterfall; Zuko didn’t need his eyes open to know that. The _noise_ and the _pulsing_ and the- _ugh-fuck, leaking again_ \-- were enough.

“There it is! Oh, it’s beautiful!” Katara rose up on her knees in excitement, voice soft and excited. “Zuko, look, the—” 

“The waterfall, I know!” Zuko squeaked, stress splintering his voice. He was sure Katara was right and it did indeed look very pretty but all he could hear was the rush of water against rock against water again and to say it was torture would have been an understatement. But he had tried so hard to keep it a secret, to not let anything slip.  
Zuko trembled, shuffling and pushing against his hands; his midriff swollen, sensitive to even the slightest touch by now. “V- very…” he panted, slow and steady like he was concentrating very hard on not pissing himself stupid. “..very, um, p-pretty.” Punched in the gut by an urge, his sentence tailed off to a whimpered squeak. And though he was panting it was through gritted teeth. The pittering sound of the waterfall rose high above his deep breaths, all encouraging. _Let go, Zuko…_  
How Katara or the others hadn’t noticed was something he couldn’t work out.  
(…Perhaps he’d leave that one for when he didn’t feel like he was going to absolutely explode.)

There was just one problem with Zuko’s line of thinking. Katara.  
Katara suspected something was the matter. He had been evasive and shifty all day, and his face was this incredible red-white shade. She had thought it was airsickness, but then even when they were walking he had shut down against them.  
“…Zuko, are you okay?” Katara murmured, reaching out to put a concerned hand on his shoulder. “If you feel a little woozy I’m sure we—“ 

His heart pounded so hard Zuko almost didn’t hear. He jerked away from her, whimpering and shifting in place on his knees.  
“...No,” he managed to squeak out when he found his voice again, all tight like he had a hand to his throat, hyper-aware that he was still leaking and it was quicker than before. “Katara, I’m fi-i-” he stammered, trailing off as another urge punched him and bent him near enough in half with the force of it. The waterfall pittered noisily in his ears; let go, Zuko, it purred again.  
Who was he kidding - he was not fine. He was about the furthest he could have possibly been from fine. He had flown away from fine long ago.  
Zuko rose, trembling, onto his knees, gulping in big shaky breaths. He was leaking, steady wet dribbles; both hands clamped between his legs, ineffective, feeling as it seeped slowly through his fingers and pooled in his lap. “N- no!” He choked to himself—squeezing tighter—no, this couldn’t be happening! Not here, not now, not in front of all his new friends! “No, nonono, _mmmhnn_ ss-stop it, stop—!”  
His heart was pounding so frantically he swore it would jump out of his chest entirely; another spurt, harder this time. Zuko bit his lip. “U-uh!” He rasped, eyes squeezed tightly shut, but nothing—nothing was working! He squeezed himself he tensed his thighs he squirmed, doubled over and choked back a whine as frozen to the spot, he—  
he was— “Oh...” _nghh_ “…no-!”  
And for nothing other than the fact that he was Zuko and he was with his new friends and the universe hated him, that was when he lost it.  
He was pissing himself.  
Here! Right here!  
Zuko swallowed thickly, staring at the pool that was rapidly collecting in his lap, eyes gleaming in shame. The ache in his middle ebbed gently away, replaced by a strong wave of bliss-then-shame as the hissing rose high to his ears.  
If he thought asking for the bathroom was embarrassing - this, this was so much worse. All in front of his way-too-new-to-be-seeing-this friends, and all over Appa, too. They would know. They would all know. And there Zuko was, all red-faced and limp and making all these tight little whiny noises like he was _enjoying_ it. Slowly the stream lost its heaviness and dwindled to nothing and finally Zuko was sprawled out, panting, clothes all heavy and wet. Relief swirled in his gut, undercut by a dagger of shame. He had pissed himself. In front of his friends. All of them.

“…It doesn’t matter.” Katara. Katara’s hand on his shoulder. Squeezing.

Zuko’s cheeks scorched with shame. He ducked away from her gaze, squirming tighter into himself.  
“…Don’t look at me!” he spat out at long last, although it was evident he was more ashamed of himself than angry at Katara. He would have been grateful for the comfort had he not felt so embarrassed.

“No, really.” Both Aang and Sokka were scooted a little further than they, lost in conversation. Katara nodded toward them. “I don’t think they noticed? I- I mean, my brother has his head in the clouds a lot of the time, so…”

“Right now, literally.” Zuko quipped softly, sighing. A flame of a smile came to his lips when Katara sort of not quite giggled.

“What are you two talking about?” Sokka demanded, twisting to face the two before Katara could get a word in and snuffing out Zuko’s smile at the same time.  
His faze froze as he took in the sight of Zuko.  
The red-faced, tear-streaked, soaked-through Zuko. He frowned. So that’s what was bugging him, huh? Suddenly everything made a lot more sense.  
“Oh… well…” as much as he tried to make words he couldn’t; he faltered and trailed off. What was there to say? 

As for Aang, Zuko supposed he was too young to care, although somehow that made the situation all the more humiliating.  
Sure enough--not wanting to miss out on whatever had his friends so interested—the twelve-year-old too turned around. “Oh,” he said eventually, cocking his head to the side. “Well, you should’ve gone earlier.”

Zuko grunted, folding his arms. His clothes were wet and heavy, if he did so much as move he would get another cold trickle in the most unwelcome of places, and he had to bite back a snarky remark - because here he was getting schooled by _the Avatar_.  
“…whatever. Can we all stop staring?” he asked grumpily, squirming. 

“I’m sure Appa doesn’t care, though. Right, boy?” Aang asked, leaning forward for a glimpse of the bison, who gruffed out a sigh. This was (apparently) confirmation of his not caring, and although Zuko wasn’t too sure of that fact he didn’t want to bring it up again. 

“Hey,” Sokka shrugged, biting back a snicker, “Appa’s getting a bath, you hop in too!”

“Definitely not!” Zuko snapped, although he flushed pink.

**Author's Note:**

> well, there. 3000 and a bit words of filth. Also I really really apologise for like how gross and bad and ooc this is but I tried and I like it so /shrug/ <3  
> If you liked this I really appreciate comments and kudos they are my lifeblood and keep me going tbh. I mean this fic, oh I was SO scared/embarrassed to upload it. And that's not usually me. I usually bimble on by with my gross fics, u know? so ehhhh. ^^;
> 
> CUTE DATE IDEA: take ur (sort of) boyfriend (bursting for a piss) to see a (very big) waterfall <3 nothing will go wrong <3
> 
> ....anyway. comments and kudos appreciated. <3 
> 
> xx


End file.
